


keep the light on

by funnylookinfella



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 14:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14813156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funnylookinfella/pseuds/funnylookinfella
Summary: after a particularly terrible night at the hands of brendol, armie runs into the arms of his loving boyfriend and his two moms.





	keep the light on

Ben knew it was different this time when he heard no rocks being thrown at the window, just a feeble little voice from the wet lawn below, asking to be let in. Getting out of bed and standing by the window, he saw Armie shivering in the bushes, hugging himself, flash of red hair barely visible in the dark. 

“What are you doing?” Ben was still bleary from sleep. 

“Please, just let me in.” 

Nodding, Ben turned and snuck down the stairs, careful to be particularly quiet when he passed Leia and Amilyn’s room. They knew that he was gay, that he and Armie had something going on between them, which made them even more strict about the two of them being alone together, which Ben thought was ridiculous at eighteen, nearly graduated from high school and heading to college in the fall. But another part of him was glad that they cared enough, and accepted him enough, to enforce the rule, like they had with Phasma before it was revealed they were incompatible. 

When he’d reached the bottom step and stretched his leg over and down to avoid the inevitable creak, Ben hurried to the front door and opened it to let Armie in, stepping aside awkwardly when he pushed past and headed up the stairs without a whispered word. Ben pressed his lips together and followed. 

When they were alone, and Ben’s door was closed, he switched on the bedside lamp and saw the bruise on Armie’s face. It made his cheek and jaw mottled and purple, and Ben saw there were two matching ones on his upper arms, too, just under the sleeves of his shirt, like someone had grabbed him hard and dug their fingers deep.

No, not ‘someone’. 

“Brendol,” Ben muttered through clenched teeth as Armie sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “Fuck him. He can’t do that shit anymore, you’re eighteen.” 

“I haven’t got anywhere else to go,” Armie said, voice dull and monotone. “Like you said, I’m eighteen. They aren’t going to do anything for me anymore. They can’t take me away like they did before.” 

All the air left Ben’s lungs. He knew Armie would never ask Leia and Amilyn to stay with them; he was too proud, too wary of becoming a burden. They’d had the talk before. Feeling helpless, he sat down next to Armie on the bed. 

“Does it hurt? Do you want some ice?” 

“Yes, it hurts. No ice, though. It’s cold enough in here.” He managed a small smile, teasing. Ben did tend to run warm, and kept his window open even in the autumn when it got brisk at night. Armie leaned into Ben’s side and lay his head down on his shoulder, feeling a strong arm wind around his waist. 

“Stay tonight,” Ben said. It wasn’t a question. “My moms’ll get it, we won’t get in trouble. Is he gonna freak out when you’re not there tomorrow?” 

“I don’t know if he’ll even notice,” Armie admitted. 

“Why’d he…? This time?”

Armie stared off at the other side of the room, expression unreadable. “I got some letters today. From Harvard and Yale. He wasn’t happy. Then he saw the one from Oxford. He’s wanted me to go back to England for a long time. When that rejection came, he…” Armie shook his head. “He went mad.” 

“You got rejected from all of them?” Ben asked, before quickly realizing he wasn’t helping. “Sorry. It’s just, you’re like, really smart.” 

“But not smart enough,” Armie replied with a feeble smile. “As it turns out, you’ve got to be exceptionally smart, as opposed to just really smart. If they accepted everyone who was just really smart, they’d be overflowing.” 

There wasn’t much Ben could say to that, so he let his arm fall. “You wanna go to sleep? You can grab one of my shirts.” 

Nodding, Armie went over to the dresser he’d dug around in so many times before and pulled out an old, soft shirt with a faded Black Sabbath logo that was absolutely massive on his skinny frame. Taking off the short-sleeved button up and chinos he’d worn on the way over, he pulled the huge shirt on over his underwear and went to snuggle up in Ben’s bed, reaching out and touching his arm when he went to turn out the light. 

“Leave it on? I want to see you if I wake up before the sun's up.”

“Sure.” Ben’s voice was soft as he left the lamp switch alone and got under the covers. In the fall, he slept under a tattered quilt his cousin Rey had been forced to make in her home ec class and shoved upon him to get it out of her life, and it was comfortable enough for him to keep. Armie moved close to him, pressing his face up against Ben’s chest and taking a deep breath as he was gathered up and held. 

The next morning, Ben was quick to get out of bed and go downstairs to explain the situation. Amilyn and Leia were in the kitchen, and he heard them contemplating going out for brunch instead of having breakfast, chatting idly until Ben came in the room. 

Leia had a way of knowing something was wrong long before any issues were spoken of, and the first words out of her mouth were, “Oh, no, what’s wrong?” 

Stopping in the doorway, Ben’s face paled. “Uh, so… Armie’s upstairs.” When both women opened their mouths to scold him, he added quickly, “Wait, wait, wait. Something happened. He came over here at like midnight last night.” 

Leia’s face was grave as she realized what her son was implying. “Brendol.” 

Ben nodded. 

Sighing, Amilyn set her mug of coffee down. “I just don’t understand how someone could do things like this to their own child. I wish he would just stay here with us, even just until you both left for school.” 

They quieted when they saw Armie come up behind Ben, immediately linking hands with him. Leia’s eyes went from angry to gentle, and Amilyn stood to pull Armie into an embrace. Pulling back, she took a good look at him. 

“There’s not a whole lot we can do for a bruise…” she murmured, almost as if to herself. “Does it hurt?” she echoed Ben’s question from the night before.

Instead of responding, Armie just nodded. He was stiff around adults, quiet and obedient, as he’d learned to be. 

“Well,” Amilyn said, “we can at least give you something for the pain. Ben, can you go get some ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet?” 

Balking at the idea of leaving Armie by himself, even with his moms, Ben still let go of his hand and headed for the bathroom. Leia beckoned Armie over with a welcoming hand and gave him a hug as well. 

“Er, Miss Organa?” Armie’s voice was slow, like he was coaxing every word from himself. “I think… I think I’d like to take you up on your offer. If you would still let me stay.” 

“Of course you can stay,” Leia said. “That was never a question.” At Armie’s relieved look, she added, her face dropping into a stern expression. “But you’ll be sleeping in the guest room.” 

“Yes, Miss Organa.” Armie almost smiled, the corners of his mouth twitching. “Thank you.”

Ben appeared in the doorway again with the little bottle of pills, shaking them enticingly. “Ready to get drugged?” 

“And then the two of you can pick somewhere to get brunch,” Amilyn said, sweeping past them to change out of her nightgown and robe. “We can talk about the other house rules in the car.” 

“Yes, Miss Holdo.” Armie nodded obediently and took the bottle of pills from Ben, and just like that he was smiling, a real one. Leia poured him a mug of coffee from the pot, and when the four of them headed out for breakfast, it almost felt like it had always been that way.


End file.
